MENIFEE - Mt. San Jacinto College has agreed to pay Azusa Pacific University $3.2 million for a 30-acre parcel next to the college's Menifee campus, putting an end to a long-running dispute between the community college and the private university.

The Mt. San Jacinto board of trustees unanimously approved the agreement during the board's meeting Thursday, the college's attorney, John Dietrich, said Monday.

"We're paying for the land and we're parting company," Dietrich said of the college's dealings with the Azusa-based Christian university.

George Soneff, attorney for Azusa Pacific, called the agreement "an amicable resolution."

Mt. San Jacinto is looking to add this parcel to its 50-acre Menifee campus, where about 60 percent of its approximately 20,000 students are taking at least one class, said Bill Marchese, a spokesman for the community college.

"The plan has always been to expand the campus to keep up with our needs," Marchese said.

The community college's main campus is in San Jacinto and it offers classes at several rented locations in Temecula.

The dispute dates back about seven years.

In late 2000, the community college decided to move forward with procedures to get the land through eminent domain, after being unable to reach an agreement with the university on the selling price. Azusa Pacific had bought the 30 acres not long before that, planning to open a small satellite campus. The university later constructed a building, for classrooms and offices, on part of the parcel.

Under eminent domain, a government entity can force a property owner to sell land if it would be used for a public purpose. The price paid to the property owner would be set by a court or arbitrator. The law prohibits a government entity from paying more than fair market value for property. In instances such as this, a professional appraiser determines the fair market value.

In 2002, a Riverside County Superior Court judge affirmed Mt. San Jacinto's rights to the 30 acres, but until recently, both sides could not agree on a selling price. The dispute centered around how the property value would be established. Both sides disagreed on which date to base the value assessment, Soneff said.

Soneff would not disclose much about the difference between the current value and the $3.2 million both sides agreed upon in the settlement, other than to say the current value is "substantially higher" than the agreed amount.

Eugene Kadow, Mt. San Jacinto College's board president, said the board is happy a settlement has been reached.

"This thing has been going on for seven or eight years now," Kadow said.

Also as part of the settlement, both sides agree that Mt. San Jacinto does not have to pay for any improvements the university made to the property -- namely, the building Azusa Pacific constructed at the site.

Marchese said that while the building was designed for classes and offices, Mt. San Jacinto has to determine whether the building meets Field Act regulations. The law, which applies to all public schools, has stringent standards regarding a public school's ability to withstand an earthquake. Because it is a private university, Azusa Pacific is not bound by the Field Act.

- Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2621, or at lfleming@californian.com.